Portland artist Harrison Bird Brown drew the revenue cutter Caleb Cushing exploding in Portland Harbor, one of many images created of the event that a newspaper account said threw Portland into "a state of excitement, bordering on consternation."

The Confederate capture of the revenue cutter and subsequent chase of the pirates by Portland residents and soldiers on board two steamers – the Forest City and the Chesapeake – along with several smaller vessels, has been called the Battle of Portland Harbor. The frame is reportedly topped with a fragment of burned vessel.